String Quartets 3

Vol. 3 of our recording of the string quartets of Ferdinand Ries with the Schuppanzigh Quartet presents selected works underscoring his great importance as a composer! Once again Ries proves to be a master and in retrospect a pathbreaking composer who today is a rewarding rediscovery. Throughout his life the Beethoven pupil Ries occupied himself with the composition of string quartets and string quintets. His String Quintet No. 2 received virtually hymnic praise in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1817: it was "in every respect one of the most outstanding works by this composer; in fact it even ranks with the most outstanding works of all that have come out in this genre for a number of years." In this work Ries apparently hit on the blend of traditional and innovative elements corresponding to the expectations of discriminating listeners from his times. In his Quartet No. 5 Ries creates the impression both of greater delight in experimentation and concision as far as the formal and motivic-thematic design of the work is concerned and proves to be a master in the field of formal experiments. The Schuppanzigh Quartet, which with the performance of interesting new discoveries has earned a reputation as one of the leading string quartets playing on original instruments, interprets these individual and suspenseful quartets, once again "with a lot of élan and dedication" (FonoForum of Vol. 1).